Heard on the Beat

Impulse Shopping

In another example of offline marketing strategies morphing to the online world, a Burlingame, Calif., firm today will announce the digital equivalent of Kmart's blue-light specials.

Web surfers visiting any of more than 100 sites, including KCBS-TV Channel 2's Channel 2000, will be met with impromptu announcements of one-time special offers that last for a few hours, courtesy of Impulse Buy Network Inc., which receives a 1% commission on transactions completed through the service as well as a flat fee from merchants offering products. Merchants also will pay a commission to the sites hosting the Impulse sales.

The year-old company has received nearly $5 million in venture capital so far, including funds from Yahoo and Softbank Technology Ventures. Other Internet services set to be part of the Impulse network include Pointcast, InfoSpace, GeoCities and IVillage. The more than 100 merchants signed up to sell products include Crutchfield, Sharper Image, Barnes & Noble, Egghead, J. Crew and Land's End.